Bar Kozha - Liquor Corruption or Politics?

When we open any print news media or visual media, we see a lot murk on the political sphere in Kerala on the alleged bribe to one or more minister/s of the Kerala State Cabinet. The issue of payment of bribe to the Finance Minister K M Mani was alleged by the Kerala Bar Hotel Owners Association Working President Biju Ramesh. Immediately the leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V S Achuthanandan wrote a letter to the Government to inquire into the matter. The Government of Kerala promptly entrusted the inquiry to its Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau (VACB). The VACB took up the work immediately and recorded the statement of Biju Ramesh.

In the statement given by Biju Ramesh to the VACB is slightly different from the one he made to the media. There was another person, Manoharan, a hotelier from Aroor in Alppuzha District with Ramesh during his media briefing. Manoharan was supporting Ramesh during the brief. However after the vigilance took the statement from Ramesh, Manoharan retraced from his statements to the media making the case weak.

All the major political parties are expressing divergent views within themselves and within the 2 fronts - UDF & LDF, each group trying to be one up man-ship with thew others.

All these looks the issue to be a concocted one with the backing or prompting of some political leader/s or party/s.